Various Items of Excitement

In no particular order (especially since I am too lazy to rearrange the downloaded pictures to make an accurate timeline...) here are some exciting photos of recent items in our life.
The above picture is Hub and I exercising our greed in a family Easter egg hunt. It's OK to be greedy when other adults are doing it and when there are treats and money involved. BTW, it is very exciting to have a hunt in a field with lots of weeds and farm equipment. Fortunately I didn't see the news story about an outbreak of Lyme disease until later that night...

Syd and Noelle playing with their babies. I can't get over how girl play is so much more nurturing than boys. Not once did their babies fly across the room and crash into anything and there were no explosions involving lots of spittle. Bring on the babies!

Ike and Noelle posing after the Rocket Derby we had in in lieu of the Pinewood Derby this year. I'm not sure how it went since I had to attend the caucus that night and left Hub there with all the kids. And they were ornery. So his report of it being not as fun may have had a biased slant.

And can you say Hello YELLOW? We painted our kitchen after years of being content with a boring-but-safe cream color (actually called Toast of the Town just so you wouldn't believe it was too boring). The yellow is a lot more dramatic than we thought we were doing, but we're used to it now. Or rather, we are pretending to be used to it because after 12 hours of having our kitchen in shambles there is no way we are re-painting for another ten years. (and for the record, the above picture does no justice to the brightness of our new walls. Trust me!)

We're prepping up for another grand conference weekend/Easter. I must admit I prefer my special weekends a bit more spread out, but we'll make do. The bonus is that you don't have to buy any extra treats if the kids have their baskets handy, right?

Home Alone....kinda

You know me, never one to say a negative word---so when Hub went out of town last week I only focused on the positives. Didn't once think how I was going to do all the kiddos at church or how I would have to move bedtime up three hours for sanity's sake....Instead, I sent him on his way with a wifely smile and a suitcase full of trail mix and jerky (no, he wasn't going on a campout. He was going to Washington DC. I don't think there is a destination where Hub wouldn't think trail mix and jerky is appropriate fare.)

Many of you are old pros at being deserted by your man. I am not. So I took solace in a few little things. Like not having to cook a dinner with red meat for a whole week. On the same vein, not having to make sure there are leftovers worthy of co-worker envy for Hub's lunch the next day.

I didn't feel any guilt about the kids watching TV on a school night if it meant they were going to get ready for bed quicker. (The kids were actually better behaved than usual since their spidey sense knew how fragile I can be with no other adult relief in sight) We played more and cleaned less since I figured we'd just save all our energy for one good cleanup right before Hub came home.

I had a good friend come visit every night to reward me for a completed day. Her name was Ms. Dryer's Girl Scouts Thin Mint ice cream. She can be a really good friend. I highly recommend you invite her into your homes.

Anyhoo, we survived. Hub came home and from the pictures he took and stories he told I am not really sure what actual 'work' was done, but hey, you know me--not one to say a negative word....

Hub hanging out at the White House. Just waiting for the snipers to get him.

Cry me a river

I'm going to have to hook Noelle up with an IV to maintain her fluid levels. With the amount of crying she does lately dehydration is just moments away. Holy cow. Is this normal? Here are some snippets of the traumatic things that happen here:
Me: Noelle, time to get in your pjs.
Noelle: WAAAAAHHHHH

Me: Noelle, I made you a sandwich for lunch.
Noelle: WAAAAAHHHHH You cut it in squares instead of triangles! WAAHHHH

Me: I brushed Syd's teeth.
Noelle: WAAAAHHHH I was going to brush Syd's teeth! WAAHHHH

Please contrast with how the same conversations would go with her brothers...

Me: Boys, get in your pjs.
Boys: I don't have to! (throw a toy, break a toy, kick somebody--but then gets in his pjs)

Me: Boys, I made you a sandwich.
Boys: Wrong shape! I'm not going to eat it! (throws his plate, crumples the sandwich into a gross soggy ball---but then eats it after exerting enough defiant energy)

Me: I brushed Syd's teeth.
Boys: (No comment. Because really, who wants to brush someone else's teeth??)

The irony is that Noelle rarely cries when she actually gets hurt. She's tough that way. She only cries when the most minuscule perceived injustice is inflicted upon her. It drives me crazy! Irrational crying is meant for hormonal teenagers and pregnant women and postpartum women and women anytime-they-feel-like-it, not for little girls who have no real issues!

Is this a girl issue? Am I strange to prefer angry destruction to histrionic tears? Give me holes in the wall over sobbing over spilt milk any day......

end of feb stuff

Nothing like a great title to suck you in.....
Ike was selected to participate in a local school basketball shootout. He did it last year and was pretty pumped to try again. He has no problems shooting solo baskets in front of a crowd, but please don't ask him to say a prayer, talk, scripture at church. Anyway, he did well and got over not placing in the top 3 after a few minutes of self-defeating ranting. And in his defense our basketball court had snow on it again so there was some lack of practice facilities!

Then we had Syd's first Birthday. Fortunately for her and me, she had no expectations. Noelle was the one pretty stressed about making sure Syd had any actual gifts. Syd spent the morning at the doctor screaming through all procedures (I'm pretty sure the Doc was faking when he said her heart sounded fine. There's no way he was able to hear it over her cries!) She got 6 shots, then spent the next four hours sleeping off the memory.

Here she is fighting for some space to actually be the one to play with her new toys.

Here is the obligatory cake and ice cream. As you can tell it started out in a bowl. I always try...

Syd is a joy to have in our family. We all love her robot walk and her squawky laugh. There are some areas of needed self-improvement in the sleeping department and friendliness to others. But don't we all have things we need to work on? And that, my friends, was the end of feb stuff. On to March! Oh, and we are very sad the Olympics are over. Our family enjoyed cheering for our country in a variety of sports. Interestingly, the men in my house must be rubbing off on me because figure skating was one of the least favorite around here. And that is really the end of feb stuff.